Unexpected
by Foxey
Summary: When One Becomes Used to One's way of life, it is often that fate will throw something completly unexpected at them. Knuckles learns this all very quickly....Knucklesx Shadow! YAOI! You have been warned!UPDATED, Ch3! Yes I have Finally Updated once more!
1. Default Chapter

Hey all! I decided it was safe to start another Sonic fanfic…this idea has been with me for a few weeks now, so I decided to write it out. If you don't like the pairing, sorry not my problem. If you feel like it, please leave a nice review after finishin this. 

Enjoy!

Oh, and I no own Sonic and Co that would be the odd people at Sega, or rather Nintendo now I think O_O Hell it no belongs to me! Happy? ;

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Unexpected

Angel Island held many secretes deep within its soil. Floating majestically in the air it didn't look like it was about to yield any of those secretes. One of these precious secretes was the mysterious Master Emerald. The emerald itself held a mysterious air to it. The legend that went along with the emerald was that the Master Emerald held a great power, a power so great that one of the other secrets of the island was the one other person on the island. The guardian of the island and, of course, of the emerald. 

Knuckles the Echidna sighed as he glanced sleepily at the emerald. It was just as it was before he had drifted into a peaceful slumber. He yawned and pulled himself up off the old, ancient steps slowly. He never was one to be token for surprise but even he didn't move too quick when he first woke up. Ever since he could remember it had been his responsibility to guard and watch over the Master Emerald.

'Man I need to quite falling asleep there' His neck felt a little stiff but it was nothing a few stretches and exercise could not help. Silently he walked up to the top of shrine where the emerald held quite refuge. Also for as long as Knuckles could remember he had been the only person who lived on the island. It wasn't as if he was lonely though, he rally felt that way, too preoccupied with some else on the island that called for his attention.

Knuckles had a few friends. Truthfully though, until recently, he hadn't wanted to be near people. Even Sonic and the others, even if they meant well. There had been a time once where Knuckles and Sonic had been enemies and it seemed as if they would never be anything but that. Yet some how they managed to become allies and it had gone from there. Knuckles was grateful to have his friends, but he was also very used to his life of solitude and quite. 

Until recently.

Recently, Knuckles had helped Sonic and Tails stop the evil and twisted Dr. Robonic, Eggman as he was called by them, from yet another attempt to take over the planet. He really didn't have a choice seeing how a certain annoying bat who walked through life with a grace that couldn't help but be admired. Rouge was indeed a female who depended on no one. Indeed Knuckles could in a way understand where Rouge was going in life; he just didn't want his emerald involved, but it did seeing how fate seemed to always be pissed off at him, the emerald was smashed to pieces and he had to find them all again. Rouge had done the same and the two had to fight for the right to own the emerald. He had won that little bout between the two at least and he had his emerald back. Never the less it hadn't been too fun when he had to dodge meteorites that could kill him just to get some of the pieces.  Somehow all of this had fitted into Eggman's plans, yet this latest plan was very different. The big difference in this plan and all the countless others was that this time Eggman had found a partner. An extremely dangerous partner at that.

The partner that Knuckles was thinking about was no other then Shadow the Hedgehog. Knuckles had never had a moment to think about him or anything else while he was looking for his emerald pieces and keys and such. Now that he was back on his own little island, his home, those thoughts had caught up to him extremely quickly. Everything was just now starting to settle down.

Indeed, Shadow was a curious person. Knuckles vaguely recalled that he had claimed to be the ultimate life form. Arrogance seemed run thick in all hedgehogs' blood. Sonic certainly was proud and arrogant. Didn't everyone have something they were proud of? It didn't matter anyways. The midnight black hedgehog had done something that no one would have ever guessed he would do. Shadow had used himself to stop Eggman after he learned that the evil doctor had just used him, his feelings, and his vulnerabilities as if they were nothing. It was a very noble cause Knuckles supposed.

Then again it could all be a ruse. Everyone had their character flaws and Knuckles' were that he had a short temper, and he was very untrusting as well as the fact that he could be gullible as well. Eggman had proved more then once the latter part. Part of the reason that he was so untrusting was because of all the tricks Eggman. That and all the solitude that had surrounded him for as long as he could remember was always a comfort to him and it seemed unnatural to have it disturbed. 

His thoughts shifted over to Rouge again. He didn't feel any affection towards the female bat but he felt that they could perhaps be reasonable friends. Should the two ever trust one another. He just hoped that she had given up on the Master Emerald for good now and moved on to something better. He hadn't liked the fact that he had to resort to attacking her just to get the rest of the pieces of the emerald, yet he had to do what his responsibilities called for him to do. He always consoled himself over the fact that he had to do it to get the emerald back; it was he who destined to look over Angel Island and its Master Emerald.

Besides, Rouge had seemed to understand what he had to do. Something told him that the girl in question was just fine and well. He knew from personal experience that she could take care of herself quite well.

Something caught his eye, jerking Knuckles back to reality. Upon hearing something land with a thud that made Knuckles feel slightly ill, the red echidna sprang up, his body tense and already ready for any required action. With his sense on full alert He headed for the area that the object had landed.

*~*

I'll update just as soon as I can, it could be a long wait tho. ; So tell me what you think on your way out!!


	2. Sleeping hearts

Aww you guys really like this so far huh? I can tell by all the reviews, thankies! Real sorry about the delay, I'm one of those unlucky ones who went and caught the flu. @@''

Anyways here it is, chapter 2!

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Knuckles jogged half way around the island and stopped short as he first caught sight of a black lump crumbled on the ground. He slowly walked over and felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes fell on the midnight black and blood red quills. Shadow! The black hedgehog's chest was barley raising and his breathing was quite labored.

Moving quickly now, Knuckles reached over lightly and pulled Shadow into his arms. It surprised him at how light Shadow really was. Making sure that Knuckles had a firm grip on Shadow he made his way into his modest home and then into his room. In there he gently laid the hedgehog on his own bed. Knuckles put a gloved hand over Shadow's forehead and frowned when it was quite clear that he had a fever.

Knuckles went into the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth pausing long enough to wet it in some icy cold water. He walked quickly back and placed the cloth upon Shadow's head. Now that he had a moment Knuckles peered down and looked at Shadow closely. He couldn't see how anyone could have mistaken Sonic for Shadow. The only way that could have happened was that perhaps they had seen Shadow at night and was just basing it on the fact that he could move fast so it was automatically thought that it was Sonic. Actually it'd probably be too difficult for a human to spot Shadow in the dark without some sort of aid, after all his fur was a deep and dark midnight black color that blended well with the night.

He hated to admit it but there was little more that Knuckles could do for Shadow now. He could not give him any medicine because he didn't know exactly what was wrong with Shadow. All that was left to be done now was wait and hope that Shadow didn't slip into a coma. It wasn't a pleasant thought at all! Feeling slightly restless now, Knuckles got up from the chair that he had just sat down in and walked over to the window.

Luckily the weather was its normal sunny self. Seeing how the Angel Island was so high up even the smallest of rain showers could end up being as strong as hurricanes at times. Generally it wasn't that bad though and when it did get like that Knuckles would take the Master Emerald and lock himself in the house until the bad weather had passed. Knuckles hoped that it would stay like this for as long as it could. He had enough to worry about as it was, let alone any storms!

Tearing himself from the window Knuckles looked back over towards Shadow. It surprised him at how bad he wanted to see Shadow's eyes and see something other then a straight line on his face. It was probably because he couldn't stand to see others hurt or in pain. There was no other explanation, was there? He was beginning to get confused with his own feelings.

"For both of our sakes Shadow I hope you make it from this in one piece." Knuckles said softly as he left to go check on the Master Emerald. Even if he had a sick charge to look after on the island he still couldn't forgot about his other responsibilities.


	3. Thee Awakens

Sorry for such the long wait, I've had some computer problems as of late and then I've been ill as well. Ok! Excuses out of the way you are now free to read chapter 3! Thank you all so far for all the reviews! Also, sorry if this chapter is short, I plan on working to make them longer from now on.

Satisfied that the emerald was still quite safe Knuckles made his way down the old steps once more. He wasn't being paranoid; experience had taught him long ago that when everything seemed to happen at once something always happened to his emerald. At the moment he wasn't willing to go all over planet Earth chasing after emerald pieces. Although generally when that happened Eggman wasn't that far behind, more then once he had been the reason for the trouble! It wasn't completely true that he felt like that because Shadow was in his home either. He refused to shift the blame to someone who could be dying. That and he didn't shift the blame to anyone else anyways; if it was his fault then he acknowledged it and moved on. He was just tired of having to go back and forth all the time and then there was all the constant worrying of the emerald. All of that tended to be a very heavy weight that he alone had to shoulder.

Quietly he walked back into his house and went straight to his room. Shadow hadn't moved any from where Knuckles had laid him down. On the brighter side, it looked like the black hedgehog's breathing had become more stable. It was a good sign, yet then again it could easily mean that there was worse to come before Shadow was out of the woods. It wasn't that easy to tell these things, one often had to wait things out a lot of times.

He was a little annoyed at the way that at the way his throat closed up on him when he thought of Shadow in an even worse condition then he was now. Sometimes, Knuckles thought to himself, it wasn't always good to have such strong emotions. That was what had gotten him in trouble time and time again. Without truly thinking of what his body was doing, Knuckles pulled his chair closer to the bedside. He had to wonder though at why he wanted so badly to see Shadow well again. Insistently he narrowed his eyes as he heard a noise, although he couldn't pinpoint it. His eyes widened as he realized that Shadow was coming around.

The world was grey and fuzzy and surrounded him with crippling pain. His body seemed to be on a fire that couldn't be put out. Struggling, Shadow opened his eye and looked into the most beautiful Amethyst eyes that he had seen.  Recognition hit him as he realized that this was the echidna that Rouge had forever been complaining about. Knuckles, wasn't that the name that Rouge had called him? It didn't matter, he was one of Sonic's friends and that spelt all sort of trouble for him.

"Are you ok?" Knuckles actually sounded worried and concerned. Shadow wondered why.

"I'm fine; it's none of your concern." Shadow managed to get off the bed and roughly pushed aside Knuckles. He saw now that he was in a bedroom, more then likely Knuckles'. Without a second thought he made his way to the door.

His body protested venomously though. The pain that he had woken up too now was ten times worse after taking his first step. Not able to take his weight his ankle collapsed underneath him, unable to hold him up any longer. He tensed up, preparing for another hard slamming to the ground. He shut his crimson eyes in painful anticipation and after a few tense seconds opened them again, wondering why he hadn't fallen. Then he noticed the strong red arms around him, supporting him. The action confused him deeply, why was Knuckles doing this?

"Look I understand if you don't trust me, that's all fine well and good but you can't expect to get anywhere in your condition!" Knuckles said quietly.

Shadow found that he couldn't argue with that logic. He felt like he had been dragged everywhere on Earth and then some. Knowing that there was nothing else he could do, Shadow nodded his head. He allowed Knuckles to led him back to the bed and help his sit down on the bed before the red echidna went rummaging in his closet. After a few moments of searching he pulled out a first aid kit.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need and want." Knuckles said as he wrapped up Shadow's swollen ankle gently. Shadow was silent and looked out the window.

"And where is here?" Shadow's tone wasn't nasty, yet it wasn't warm and friendly either. It was a more neutral tone really.

"Angel Island, my home. Rest now Shadow, you need it." Knuckles stood back up and put back the kit.

"I don't understand you, why help me?" Shadow muttered as he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Knuckles watched Shadow's chest rise and fall slowly. Indeed, why was he helping Shadow? He didn't know the first thing about this midnight black hedgehog. How did he know that this wasn't some trick that Eggman had come up with to get his hands on the Master Emerald? It wouldn't have surprised him any, the mad doctor didn't mind putting others in danger to get what he desired, even if it was his own partners. Simply put, he didn't know, yet oddly he felt he could trust Shadow. That was something he had never been able to do, to trust someone so quickly like that. What was it about Shadow, someone who had once been an enemy, that made him trust him so well?  Knuckles sighed and shook his head, as if to clear away all his troubled thoughts. It didn't make no sense to worry so much over something that was already done.

It was too late to change what had happened, now all that Knuckles could do was hope that his actions wouldn't come back to haunt him in the long run.  


End file.
